Grapes of gratitude
Keeping Americans in the know about which wine goes best with veal or other expensive preparations is Kolkata-born Rajat Parr. The master sommelier and wine director of world-famous Mina Group bends elbows with Mathures Paul There was a time when good wine flowed primarily in the confines of elite Kolkata clubs. Yes, that’s true. Though we hear of wine appreciation sessions being held in the city from time to time, moving back a decade or two, this was but a figment of the imagination, a passage from a book, pictures displayed on a few television channels... Wine connoisseurs were few and far between and those in the know belonged to, till now, long forgotten clubs. Rajat Parr never expected to be a master sommelier, let alone rub shoulders with Larry Stone at Rubicon. He was too busy building a career. But he struck with a dream at the back of his head. Today, the Kolkata-born Parr is wine director of Mina Group and its signature restaurant, Michael Mina. Michael Bauer, restaurant cri...